Tool handle



L. P. FINLEY TOOL HANDLE pnl S, 1941. 2,238,104'

Filed Jan. 4, 1940 INVENTOR fawn/e0 @f7/MEV.

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ATTRNEY Patented Apr. 15, 1941 TOOL HANDLE Leonard P. Finley, Columbus,Ohio, assigner to The Union Fork and Hoe Company, a corporation of OhioApplication January 4, 1940, Serial No. 312,340

6 Claims.

This invention relates to handles for manual tools and particularly tomeans for reinforcing such handles in the area Where they are mostliable to break, more especially handles for tools such as forks inwhich a certain amount of Ilexibility or spring is desired.

'Ihese handles are Wooden and usually are made of ash which is durableand strong and has the desired amount of flexibility and resiliency.They are usually tapered and reduced slightly in diameter at their lowerends to rit Within a tubular metallic member which in the case of `manytools of which forks are an example is a ferrule which forms a permanentpart of the handle.

Some tools of which shovels are an example have a tubular socket formedintegrally with the implement and the reduced end of the handle ischucked or fitted into the socket which terminates at the shoulder ilushwith the handle above the shoulder.

In either case when the tool is in use there is a bending moment at thetransverse plane oi the shoulder and consequently the handle is apt tobreak at that plane. tributing the stress of that bending moment in thecase of shovel handles has been solved by slotting the handle to a pointabove the shoulder and putting a duplex reinforcing plate in the slotwith Wings` or yiianges gripping the handle on opposite sides above theshoulder and the portion Within the socket being of the full Width ordiameter of the handle for the length of the socket, preferably to itslower end, and being rmly riveted along its length to the socket andhandle. Such a construction is shown in the United States patent toBrandenburg, No. 2,178,-

Both the strength and rigidity of the handle are thereby augmented andin shovels, which have to serve for prying as well as lifting, themaximum of rigidity is a desideratum. In other tools, such as longhandled forks, rigidity is undesirable and the desideratum is to get theneeded strength in the region of the maximum bending moment withoutdetra-cting from the spring or flexibility of the tool handle,particularly at the lower end of the handle. It 1s known, for example,that the discharging of the contents of a fork from the tines isfacilitated by the snap which is imparted to the fork head by theresilient return of the handle from a flexed `shape. which it assumesunder stress to the normal shape when the stress is relieved,^as whenthe Weight which is being lifted to an cle- The problem of disvatedplace gets past the vertical plane of the hands.

In accordance With this invention the reinforcing member is designed toreinforce the handle at the shoulder by a member bearing externally ofthe handle for a distance above the shoulder and internally of theferrule for a clistance below the shoulder, but the leverage of themember internally of the ferrule is only for such distance as isrequired properly to distribute the stress and is not sufficient toimpair niaterially the flexibility of the handle at the region where itis most needed, the ferrule itself being of a thin gauge metal andsuiiciently flexible to coact with the Wood.

More specifically the invention contemplates a reinforcing plate,preferably duplex, the portion of which within the ferrule is composedof two sections of more or less equal length, the rear one fittingwithin the ferrule and the other being an extension of narrower Widthwhich affords lateral reinforcement but is entirely unattached to thehandle transversely and leaves the portion of the handle and ferrulebelow the first section free to flex in the plane of the slot.

If the handle is curved or bent, as is the case with certain typesofforks, the bend will ordinarily occur sufficiently below the shoulderto accommodate a straight section for the distance that the plate bearsin the ferrule and the narrower extension may extend into the bend. Ifdesired the second section may be made shorter or may be omittedaltogether.

The invention also contemplates other details of construction as Willhereinafter more fully appeal'.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention Will now be described andthereafter the invention will be pointed out in claims.

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a fork embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the lower portion of thehandle.

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan of the same.

Fig. 4 is an isometric detail of the reinforcing member.

The illustrated fork is a pitch fork or hay fork. It is a three tinedfork with a bent wooden handle I of the type known as a long handle,being a round wooden shaft of varying length up to 6 feet and generallytapered at its lower end to fit within a tapered, tubular. metallicierrule 2, the ferruled end being reduced in diameter just the thicknessof the ferrule so that its top` edge at the shoulder 3 makes a flush litwith the handle above the shoulder.

The handle I is shown as a bent handle though it will be understood thatthis characteristic of the handle is immaterial to the invention. Thelower end of the handle is provided with the conventional bore 4 toreceive the tang or shank 5 of the fork head 6, the usual over-cap lbeing employed to complete the attachment of the fork head and handle.

The ferrule 2 is of steel or other suitable material and since the bendoccurs within its length it is ordinarily applied to the handle beforethe handle is bent. The ferrule will partake of the permanent bend andat the same time is suffciently flexible and resilient to yield 'andspring with the enclosed wooden shaft and not materially detract fromthe natural resiliency of the Wood.

The handle is shown as provided with a through transverse slot 8 in thecentral vertical plane of the handle from its lower end to a point ashort distance above the shoulder 3. In the upper end of this slot isdisposed the reinforcing member of the form shown in detail in Fig. 4.Since the reinforcing member occupies only the upper end of the slot itis evident that except as a matter of convenience of formation of theslot and of introduction of the reinforcing member in it, the slot neednot extend below the reinforcing membei'.

In the form shown the reinforcing member consists of two similar steelplates 9a and 9b, each having longitudinal fianges IU and ll along itstop and bottom edges for about half its length. These flanges are ofjust the length from the shoulder 3 to .the upper end of the slot andthe plates are placed back to back and are disposed in the slot 8 withthe flanged portions occupying the portion of the slot above theshoulder. the flanges of course is turned down after the plates areintroduced andthe handle will be fiat tened off on both sides and theflanges will be curved and depressed in the wood so that the flangeswill merge into the surface of vthe handle.

width at the lower end. The bend of the handle u begins at the plane ofthe lower end of section A.

In practice the unflanged portion of the reinforcing member extends intothe ferrule for about one-third of its length, and lsince there are norivets or other fixed transverse attachments it is obvious that thereinforcing lmember does `not interfere with the flexibility andresiliency of the lower end of the handle below the section A. In otherwords the rigidity is limited to a short length on either side of theshoulder.

The tapered portion B of the reinforcing vmember augments the lateralstability and strength without impairing the flexibility of the handle.If desired this section ,may be omitted or its length may be adjustedaccording to need. Longitudinal These corrugations will extend but ashort Way if at all into the section B of the plates.

One of It is obvious that various modifications may be made in theconstruction shown in the drawing and above particularly describedwithin the principle and scope of the invention as set forth in theappended claims.

I claim:

1.For forks and the like, a wooden handle having its lower end for asubstantial distance reduced in diameter to receive a ferrule andterminating in a shoulder, a tubular ferrule fitting on and coextensivewith the reduced end, the handle having a vertical slot therethroughextending both sides of the shoulder, and a reinforcing membercomprising a plate disposed within the slot and extending from the upperend of the slot into the ferrule, the portion of the reinforcing memberwithin the ferrule having a section at its upper end coextensive inwidth with the internal diameter of the ferrule and the reg mainder ofthe portion being of lesser width than and out of contact with theinternal face of the ferrule, whereby the flexibility of the lower endof the handle is substantially unimpaired.

2. For forks and the like, a wooden handle having its lower end for asubstantial distance reduced in diameter to receive a ferrule andterminating in a shoulder, a tubular ferrule fitting on and coextensivewith the reduced end, the handle having a vertical slot therethroughextending both sides of the'shoulder, and a reinforcing membercomprising a plate disposed within the slot and extending from the upperend of the slot into the ferrule, the portion of the reinforcing memberwithin the ferrule having a section at its upper end coextensive inwidth with the internal diameter of the ferrule and the remainder of theportion being o'f lesser width than and out of contact with the internalface of the ferrule, whereby the flexibility of the lower end of thehandle is substantially unimpaired, the portion of the reinforcingmember above the ferrule being flanged externally of the handle andembracing the handle between the flanges.

3. For forks and the like, a wooden handle having its lower end for asubstantial distance reduced in diameter to receive a ferrule andterminating in a shoulder, a tubular ferrule fitting on and coextensivewith the reduced end, the handle having a vertical slot therethroughextending both sides of the shoulder, and aA reinforcing membercomprising two similar plates disposed contiguously within the slot andextending from the upper end of the slot into the ferrule, the portionof each plate within the ferrule being not more than one-half the lengthof the portion of the handle within the ferrule and the upper half ofsaid portion being coextensive in width with the internal diameter ofthe ferrule and the lower half being tapered to a substantially lesserwidth, and the portion of each plate above the ferrule being flangedexternally of the handle and embracing the handle vbetween the flanges,the flanges of the two plates extending oppositely away from the slot.

4. For forks and the like, a wooden handle having a bend near its lowerend and shouldered above the bend and having its -lower end verticallyslotted to a point above the shoulder, a tubular ferrule fitting on thelower lend up to the shoulder, and a reinforcing member comprising aplate disposed in the slot and extending from the upper end of the slotinto the ferrule and fitting within the ferrule only up to the region ofthe bend, the handle below the bend being free to flex.

5. For forks and the like, a Wooden handle having a bend near its lowerend and shouldered above the bend and having its lower end Verticallyslotted to a point above the shoulder, a tubular ferrule fitting on thelower end up to the shoulder, and a. reinforcing member comprising ametal plate disposed in the slot and extending from the upper end of theslot into the ferrule`l` and fitting within the ferrule only up to theregion of the bend and having a narrower extension within the bend, thehandle below the bend being free to ex, the portion of the reinforcingmember above the shoulder being flanged externally of the handle andembracing the handle between the flanges.

6. For forks and the like, a wooden handle having its lower end for asubstantial distance reduced in diameter to receive a ferrule andterminating in a shoulder, a tubular ferrule fitting on and coextenslvewith the reduced end, the handle having a vertical slot therethroughextending both sides of the shoulder, and a reinforcing membercomprising two similar plates disposed contiguously within the slot andextending from the upper end of the slot into the ferrule, the portionof each plate within the ferrule being at its upper end coextensive inWidth with the internal diameter of the ferrule'and the remainder of theportion being of lesser width than and out of Contact with the internalface of the ferrule, whereby the flexibility of the lower end of thehandle is substantially unimpaired, the portion of each plate above theferrule being flanged externally of the handle and embracing the handlebetween the ilanges.

LEONARD P. FINLEY.

